minister Monday, May 30, to ban a scheduled massive distribution of sharp weapons among Hindu militants amid fears of more violence against Christians. The appeal came after the Hindu fundamentalist group Biswa Hindu Parishad and its paramilitary wing Bajrang Dal announced they would organize new weapons distribution parties for thousands of supporters in the tense eastern state.
In a statement monitored by BosNewsLife, the parties said they "decided to meet Prime Minister of India Dr. Manomohan Singh demanding [a] ban" on what are known as Trishul Dishka, or Trident Distribution Parties.
The CPI said it had also joined forces with the main opposition party in Orissa’s parliament and other groups to "urge the state government to step up efforts to end the activities of Hindu militants."
STUDENTS PROTEST
In addition student organizations supporting Christians are organizing protests against the
militant activities of Hindu groups. The Orissa Secretary of the National Students Union of India (NSUI), Nishikant Mishra, told BosNewsLife that his organization "will protest further weapons distribution at any place of the state."
He warned that influential Hindu groups are "planning secretly" to organize Trident Distribution
Parties. There was no immediate confirmation of these allegations, but churches have expressed concern about what they see as an increased number of violent incidents against Christians in Orissa and other areas.
In Bihar, another Indian state reporting violence, Catholic churches have formed the Forum Against Violence to fight attacks against church leaders and church run institutions there, BosNewsLife learned Monday, May 30.
NEW FORUM
Indian Catholic News Service reported that the group was established just weeks after the killing of priest Mathew Uzhuthal, the vicar general of Patna archdiocese. He died earlier this month of his wounds after being stabbed in the neck and chest on April 1 for refusing to pay extortion money to a local criminal from the parish of Sheikpura in Munger district, church sources claimed.
"The killing of Fr. Uzhuthal has shocked the church in Bihar [and] Christans are now united for
justice," the group reportedly said. Forum Against Violence added "that strong action should be taken against criminals who continued to harass Christians" living in the troubled areas of the state.
The group said it was "distressed" that police have not arrested the suspect. Catholics have suffered more violence in the region in recent years. In 1979, unidentified persons shot Jesuit Father Francis Martinsek, an American missionary who worked as chaplain of the Nazareth Hospital. He died of his wounds four days after the attack. The militants also attacked another priest, Thomas, but he survived. (Satya Sundar Mishrais BosNewsLife India Reporter based in Orissa. Mishra, 26, is a Development Journalist of Orissa working on social and religious issues that are not yet on the radar screen of media and politicians. He has been working for a variety of key publications and is currently also active as Sub-editor and Senior Reporter with Odisha Bhaskar, a regional daily newspaper. He can be reached via e-mail satya_mishra11@rediffmail.com ).
